Theodore hunger



(No Model.)

T. HUNGER.

THILL UOUPLING. I No. 359,973. Patented M81222, 1887.

WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

r4, PETERS PhulwLilhcgmpiwr. Wnshing'on. n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT FPiQEs THEODORE HUNGER, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM H. OOFFIN, OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,973, dated March 22. 1837.

Application filed November 1'7, 1886. Serial No. 219,151. (No model.)

To aZZ 10710771, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, THEODORE IILNGER, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinventeda new and Improved Thill-Coupling,ofwhich thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in thilicouplings, and has for its object to provide a coupling whercin the thills may be only removed when inclining downward,and where in the use of a wrench or other instrument is dispensed with in such removal, which may be accomplished instantly by the simple pressure of a lever attachment.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Iteferei'lce is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is aside elevation, partlysectional, of my thill-coupling, and Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly sectional, of the bolt used in connection with the coupling.

A represents an ordinaryjack-clip in position upon the axle a, and B a thill-iron having attached thereto a portion of the thill b. The said chill-iron B is provided with a semicircular lower end, 0, having a cam-like upper surface, 0, with a groove, (1, cut therein, which, when the thills are in their normal position, will assume a vertical line parallel with the face of the clip, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower face or the said semicircular end G being provided with a central concavity, D.

Above the semicircular end 0 the thill-iron B is furnished with ears D, integral with the under surface thereof, in which cars a lever, E, is journalcd, having attached to its upper end a spring, 6, whose free end is made to bear against the said iron B,while the action of said lever B is controlledbya set-screw, M, adapted to pass through the lover and to a bearing upon the under face of the iron B.

The lower end, P, of the lever E is semicircular in form, its inner fiat surface at this point being provided with a concavity, f,

adapted to register with the concavity D in the semicircular end 0 of the iron B, so that when the hat faces of the said iron and lever meet the concavities therein will form a circular aperture adapted to receive the bolt 6 of the jack-clip A The outer contour of the united circular portions of the thill-irons B and the lever E do not constitute a true circle, owing to the eccentric or cam-surface c of that end of the iron, and the eye formed by the two cavities D and f is therefore nearer the bottom surface of thesaid united portions than the top, the greater thickness of metal being consequently above and to the rear of the eye, the purpose of this arrangement being to render it impossible to detach thethills, even though the spring and set-screw were omitted, when the said thills are in their normal position,but when the thills are lowered below a central line to render their detachment easy, by simply pressing the end of the lever E upon each chill-iron and drawing the thills simultaneously forward. The groove d forms a means for keeping the bearingsurface of the thill-iron free from dust and grit, thereby to a great extent preventing the wear thereof, as a channel is thus formed to afford egress to foreign matter.

In the use of my coupling I employ the usual-sized bolt, 6, which will enter the wings of most jack-clips. To provide against any rattling or noise, however, I form a recess, h, in said bolt about centrally the head and the thread, and spring over the threaded portion a rubber ring, h, to a bearing upon the reduced portion of the bolt of such thickness as to make the said bolt of uniform diameter.

It will be observed from the above description, taken in connection with the drawings, that the coupling locks automatically through the attached spring,as the set-screw may be dispensed with ,and that the thills may be changed or removed at pleasure, without touching the wheel or using a wrench, and that by any person of ordinary intelligence in a few seconds; again, that the cam-face of the thill-iron will press against the jack-clip when the thills are brought into their normal position, and the heft of the metal being upon the top and at the back of the eye, the coupling is made to bear eye formed partially in the iron and partially' in a spring-actuated lever pivoted thereto, the said thill-iron having its upper end surface eccentric to said iron and provided with a vertical groove, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the jackclip A and rnbber-incased bolt 0, of the thill-iron 13, having its upper end surface provided with a vertical groove, (1, and made eccentric with a central concavity, D, in its under surface, the lever E, provided with a concavity, f, in its upper end. surface in line with the said concavity 1), and the spring 6, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination, with the ja'ckelip A and the bolt 6, having a rubber collar, h, thereon, of the thill-iron B, having its upper end surface provided With a vertical groove, d, and made eccentric with a central concavity,

D, in its under surface, the lever E, provided 1 with a concavity in its upper end surface in the same plane with the said concavity D, the spring 6, and set-screw M, substantially as shown and described, and forlthe purpose herein set forth.;

4. The combination, with the thill-iron 13, provided with a concavity, D, in its under surface and having its upper end surface eccentric to the concavity D, of the spring-actuated lever E, provided with a concavity in Y its upper-surface registering with the concavity D, substantially usshown and described.

THEODORE HUNGER. \Vitnesses:

J. F. ACKER, J12, WM. H. COFFIN. 

